Great Battles

[James Cornelius]

Fellow captains,

 

I wanted to share the tale of an excellent battle I participated in tonight. First, I want to heartily commend and thank my fellow American captains who joined me: Flag Captain Abraham Knight and Commodore Pug Henry. I also want to recognize the pirates we fought: Werwolf, Locked on, and especially Yooper Loon. I regret not having any screenshots, as for the majority of the battle I was focused only on one thing: survival. Others joined us in the chase, and I thank them as well and my apologies if I overlook anyone's contributions in that time.

 

Now, allow me to report the battle from my perspective.

 

Upon arriving at the local naval office in Charleston, I was informed that there were reports of a large pirate raiding force just offshore. Unfortunately, all I had at my disposal were two ships: a brand new Surprise-class frigate, outfitted for trade interdiction, and an aged Bellona-class 74 - slated to be sold out of the service to a particular friend of mine, who was on the cusp of achieving flag captain rank and it was my desire to present him this elderly line ship as a gift. She was built of live oak, outfitted with additional crew quarters and modifications for speed. I'd added mastercraft level copper plating and extra planking - but as she was to be removed from active service, the had only common level other upgrades: rum rations for the men, survival handbooks, toolboxes, and powder monkeys.

 

But, with the nearby threat, I decided to take her out.

 

Upon leaving Charleston, I immediately fell in with Flag Captain Abraham Knight saliing a Constitution-class frigate; he was well ahead of me, so I alerted him to my presence. After hastily assembling what forces we had, mostly light ships such as snows and brigs, but with a handful of frigates such as the Constitution, an Essex under Commodore Pug Henry, and lighter frigates. As we moved to engage the pirate fleet, which had previously outgunned us significantly (at least one Constitution, several Renommes, and several frigates), our swelling fleet - now with another standard 74 and an Ingermanland-class 4th rate - proved more than they wished to battle...so the pirate force ran south.

 

As the senior-most officer in the heaviest ship, I took command of the American forces and led us south in chase. As we chased, they gradually pulled away in their lighter and faster ships, leading us toward Sunbury. The opinion was soon voiced, by experienced officers, that we were being led into a trap. Our force dissipated as quickly as it had grown, and soon there were only four of us off Sunbury, with a fifth inside the port. At various times, pirates Werwolf in a Belle Poule, or Yooper Loon in a Constitution, sat just outside Sunbury, eyeing us at a distance.

Within our own fleet, we discussed what to do. Some continued to believe we were being baited, but we all wanted a fight. I finally told my fellow captains we had only two choices: withdraw, or stay and force an engagement, no matter the odds. Within moments, Locked On sped out of Sunbury in a Renomme with another Renomme in escort. As we moved to intercept, Werwolf passed by me in a Bucentaure-class 2nd rate. When it appeared we were to be engaged regardless, I moved to put my ship in an advantageous position and initiate combat myself. One of our fleet members felt the odds too great, and was able to escape. Two other Americans, the noble Abraham Knight and the intrepid Pug Henry, followed me into the battle.

 

The pirates who joined were those above, so the contest was a pirate Bucentaure, Constitution, and Renomme (with a Renomme escort) against an American Bellona, Constitution, and Essex; a BR of 1150 vs 1050. The odds were against us, but I felt we had a fighting chance.

 

The battle proved chaotic. I am not sure at times how Knight and Henry fared - they dueled mostly with the two Renommes, but at various times we all were entangled. As the heaviest ship in the fleet, despite being outgunned and out armored by the enemy Bucentaure, I knew I was the only one with even a remote chance to take it on. With that aged Bellona - headed for private service, veteran of countless victories and a few defeats - I bore down on the Werwolf's Bucentaure.

 

By using the relative maneuverability of that old ship, I delivered rake after rake to the 2nd rate, killing a hundred men or more. When necessary, we went broadside to broadside. As Werwolf sustained more and more damage, and I sustained comparatively much less, he no doubt called for aid. At one point, I found myself with Werwolf on one side or the other, while Yooper Loon's Constitution tried to rake my stern, and Locked On's Renomme escort shooting chain at my sails. Still, I fought on - at one point delivering a devastating heeled broadside to the Buc inflicting 14 leaks. Not all was roses, of course: an early collision with the Buc destroyed my bowsprit as I was already nearly faced into the wind. I had no choice but to repair my sails far earlier than I otherwise would have.

 

But despite the efforts of the pirate ships, we gradually gained the upper hand. First, Locked On ordered his escort to withdraw. Despite our damage, this made the numerical odds even. By this time, Werwolf's Buc was down to less than 25% on his starboard side, with his stern totally destroyed and perhaps 250 men killed, owing to my decision to switch to grape for a handful of rakes. I had lost 100 or more. With him a (relatively) lesser threat, I tried to turn some attention to Locked On, who piloted his Renomme with uncommon skill. I knew one or two good broadsides could put him out of the fight and allow Knight and Henry to come to my aid. Due to his speed, I never landed the knockout broadside I wanted, but in this short lull, Werwolf - who I believe I would otherwise have sunk - was able to escape. I was very disappointed, but knew at that point that the battle was now won.

 

Unfortunately, Locked On, continuing to demonstrate his mastery of his ship, was able to swing around my stern rapidly and after firing a harmful broadside, turn through the wind in a way my battered ship could not follow. My companions were still further ahead and could not re-engage him. He too escaped.

 

That left Yooper Loon, who was attempting to maneuver into a more favorable position where he might be able to flee, nonetheless continued to fight despite the hopeless odds. His ship, which I had the honor to officially receive credit for destroying, went down with sails unfurled and guns still blazing.

 

In the end, we could only credit a single ship sunk, but that was far ahead of what some others believed would be the outcome. What began as a contest that was surely weighted in favor of the Black Flag, had turned into a decisive, if incomplete, victory for the Stars and Stripes. It was my honor to lead such fine fighting captains as Abraham Knight and Pug Henry in this battle, and without their aid it surely could not have been a victory.

 

I only hope my words here can do justice to the exhilaration and thrill of the fight - first as we approached a daunting task, and through the increasing joy and exultation as I delivered such damage to a superior ship, causing it to flee, and finally in triumph as I joined my fellows in hunting down the last enemy ship. And I did it all in that old battleship, which I was going to give away because of its age and infirmities...the old girl still had some fight left!

 

Once again, I wish to thank Captains Knight and Henry - I will sail with you fine gentlemen again any time, and any where. And to my gallant foes, I should be willing to fight a rematch (on reasonable terms of course, ha ha!) any time.

 

In this spirit, I would welcome any other recent tales, and if any of my fellows from the battle see this and wish to add their accounts I would most heartily like to hear them.

Edited September 12, 2016 by James Cornelius

[Werewolf]

Werwolf here - 

James, what a fantastic way with words you have! I think it captures perfectly the events leading up to the battle, and the battle itself. I am amazed. It is interesting to read this to me because I can fill in the blanks for you and make you go ahHA! So that's what he was doing! Just as reading this has done for me. So here, my friend, is my side of the story to add to your half. 


   After priming ourselves with ample spirits, we cast off from Sunbury in one of my favorite ships in my inventory...the "Gudfarr", a Renomee that is Fir, with extra crew space and Speed mods. It may also have a few other sundry perm mods done to her, yarrr... anyways, after leaving port, I noticed two other pirate ships ahead of me. An Ingermanland, and a Renommee with another Reno as fleet. They were obviously headed out to, errrr, reassign cargo and war materiel from our common enemies to our own stocks... so I fell in and joined the group. We sailed for what seemed like 10 minutes or so, and spotted sails on the horizon.... BIG ones. Hoping they weren't too large of a force, my hopes were soon dashed as the horizon fell away to reveal a small flotilla of decent sized warships, sailing straight for us. We had come knocking, and Uncle Sam answered. Surprised at the stiff response, we elected to turn and flee. At one point, I turned the Gudfarr around to scout the situation.... and soon saw the entire flotilla still chasing. So we booked it the rest of the way to Sunbury as fast as we could sail. Around Beaufort, I sailed past a US Renommee who did not attempt to engage, so I continued to run. 

 Reaching Sunbury safely, I decided why not... these guys are obviously spoiling for a fight, let's party. The largest ship I had in Sunbury at that point was my Constitution, which is..... awaiting modifications before deployment... heehee... so, I took out my trusty Belle Poule to scout the situation while waiting to teleport to Mortimer Town, where I had my Bucentaure laid up. Sure enough, there they were... a whole forest of masts sitting in a group on the horizon. They definitely came for a fight, and were waiting at a respectable distance to see what we would come back out with. My teleport timer went unmolested, and so I then in turn teleported my 1 Dura Bucentaure to Sunbury, where she would be sacrificed to Davy Jones in honor and glory, the only way a Pirate ship should go... amidst cannon fire and rolling banks of gunsmoke. Not to mention we were guaranteed a hot time of it, judging by the US fleet assembled outside Sunbury, so she wouldn't go down without a fight. 

  I pushed off from Sunbury in my Buc, assuming she'd never see the docks again, destined to shortly be at the bottom of the Atlantic. But just like those enemy captains, I too was thirsting for battle. I came out just in time to see tons of US ships sailing past my bows... so I set full sail, and went right into the middle of them. Amidst the tagging process, two others got tagged in with me or joined shortly thereafter. Again a totally unplanned event, they just showed up and helped out. It was at this time that I began to take stock of what we were up against. A Bellona, Connie, and an Essex. I smiled, knowing we slightly outgunned them and that I had two veteran sailors backing me up. I took the fortunate odds as a good sign, and pressed the Bucentaure into full sails, fully expecting the enemy ships to turn and run. The Constitution and Essex were making to cross the T, but not running... surely, I thought, the Bellona will run though. I turned to my right just in time to see shot fly past my head, and to my amazement the Bellona was making full sails, straight at my Bucentaure. This captain would have battle, and had obviously commited to the fight as the Constitution and Essex had. Alright, I thought, we're in for a fight here! Truly though, I wasn't worried, as I gazed around at the mountain of a ship that I was currently commanding.

 What happened next was amazing, depressing, hilarious and scary all at the same time. The Bellona tore into me like a hawk hitting a rabbit in a full dive on the desert prairie, and in short order I had lost most of my starboard armor, all of my stern armor, and well over 70% of my crew. I had constant leaks springing up from the relentless broadsides of the Bellona, the captain of which skillfully maneuvered his ship in such a fashion as to wreak all of this damage singlehandedly, aside from some potshots at my sails from the Constitution and Essex who had their hands full with my two fellow pirates who were skillfully and bravely engaging them, allowing me to focus completely on the Bellona (or him on me, apparently...)

   At one point I had 120 of my 150 or so remaining crew (out of an original 800) in Survival, attempting to patch leaks, put out a small fire started in the starboard gun deck, and bail out an existing amount of water amounting to about 20% of the gauge.Even after fixing the leaks, I still had a permaneant influx of water from most likely the stern, and 50 of the crew had to stay on survival in order to keep the ship afloat. Thank goodness for Extra Pumps! Though at this point, it seemed to be an exercise in futility as the Bellona bored in for the killing shots. As I quietly prayed to RNGesus for the souls of the dead strewn across the deck, I begged for forgiveness and mercy for my fellow captains, who were still taking the fight to the smaller enemy ships. Mysteriously and suddenly, the Bellona veered away on a hard rudder move, and I saw my chance.. I made my escape with what can only be described as my tail between my legs, having taken a severe beating from a 3rd rate vessel, and barely escaping with my life and my ship.

  I could only look in horror and amazement at what was left of a once proud and mighty vessel... now burnt and twisted, scarred and battered with holes and busted wood everywhere. The sails stayed relatively intact through the whole fight, and I repaired them the rest of the way as we headed for the small window of escape opportunity. I limped back the short distance to Sunbury, and gave a massive sigh of relief as we tied up at the docks next to the old familiar tavern. I don't know how, I don't know why, but RNGesus had elected to spare me the final humiliation of being sent to the bottom. I was in total amazement at how tough the bellona was, my carronade shot bouncing off her hull at close range. I must salute all three of the US captains in this battle, but a special salute to James and his old Bellona. It was truly a great fight, and my hat is off to the abilities of all three of you. Keep an eye to your stern for a black flag, for repairs won't take long on both my ship and my ego.... haha! One of my favorites in this game will forever be during this battle... I was exclaiming out loud "wow, my armor is gone...!"  *Bellona broadsides upper deck* GREAT, 14 leaks!!  *Bellona broadsides gun deck* JESUS CHRIST IM ON FIRE NOW *Bellona fires a single shot, destroying rudder*  I HATE THIS STUPID GAME!!  All of this was exclaimed very loudly, and happened within about 20 seconds. LOL... good times!!!  I look forward to the next one!

 

07

 

Werwolf out

[James Cornelius]

Werwolf,

 

Thank you for filling in the blanks! Between the two of us I felt like I was reliving the battle all over again. I wish every fight I had - win or lose - was this epic! I knew I had injured your ship gravely, but never knew the extent. You and your allies fought bravely and fought well.

 

My hat is off to you, sir, for your handling of your vessel and while I certainly wished I could have finished you off, given the nature of this battle, it does not grieve me for you to have made it out of this one alive.

 

Til we meet again!

 

o7

Edited September 14, 2016 by James Cornelius